by rick olivares phoot by brosi gonzales
December 2, 2011
Smart Araneta Coliseum
If you ask the Powerade Tigers if
lightning does strike twice you can be sure that they’ll nod yes although
somewhat disbelievingly.
The Meralco Bolts, for the second time
in less than a month, piped the Tigers by two, 100-98, last Friday. In the two
squad’s first encounter this Philippine Cup, the Bolts also prevailed by two,
98-96, after entering the fourth period with a five-point deficit.
As it was in the first meeting between
the two, forward Gabby Espinas and swingman Mark Cardona, were the bane of the
Tigers.
Espinas, the former Philippine
Christian University star who won an NCAA title in 2005, scored 14 points and
pulled down 11 rebounds but it was his defensive stops at the endgame that
proved to be the difference for Meralco.
With the Bolts holding on to a 100-95
lead, the Tigers’ Doug Kramer drove hard to the basket. Espinas blocked his
layup attempt but Powerade’s Sean Anthony got hold of the loose ball. The
Fil-Canadian went straight back to the hoop where Espinas not only rejected him
but controlled the board.
Cardona and teammate Chico Lanete gave
Meralco a massive lift at the start of the fourth period after both teams
played to a standstill after three quarters 76-all. Both players scored seven
points early in the fourth to give Meralco some breathing room in the end game.
Both sides had opportunities to either
put the game away or come closer but they degenerated into a series of missed
shots but none more costly than for Powerade.
After Espinas’ Mutombo-esque stops, Asi
Taulava muffed a layup. Powerade gave the advantage back to Meralco when
Anthony flubbed two free throws with 28 seconds left. On the other end, Taulava
missed a pair of freebies as well.
However, this time, Marcio Lassiter
was up to the task as he hit a triple with 20.5 seconds left to put Powerade
behind by a deuce, 98-100. Meralco held on in the game’s final moments for the
win.
Espinas chalked up his seventh double
double of the season. Powerade’s Doug Kramer also tabbed his ninth double
double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Petron’s Arwind Santos leads the league
in that statistic with 10.
It was a proud Meralco head coach Ryan
Gregorio who beamed after the game: “Coming into the game, it was clear that our
intention was to fight for character of team. We know we’re in the playoffs but
that is not our destination. The most wins we’ve had are seven in a conference.
We really motivated our players not against Powerade but against ourselves. We
have a chance to get better in terms of wins and we were able to achieve it.”
The win gave Meralco an 8-5 record and
put them at solo fourth in the ten-team standings. The Tigers loss put them at
5-8 and kept Alaska in the hunt for the eighth and final seat for the
quarterfinals.
Meralco
100 - Mercado 23, Cardona 17, Espinas 14, Lanete 9, Macapagal 9, Hugnatan 6,
Yee 5, Taulava 5, Borboran 4, Isip 4, Omolon 4, Timberlake 0.
Powerade
98 – David 25, Kramer 16, Anthony 14, Casio 13, Lassiter 9, Vanlandingham 7,
Lingganay 6, Adducul 6, Cruz 2, Crisano 0, Antonio 0.
No comments:
Post a Comment